“Found me.” His gritty, deep voice rumbles his normal ‘as few words as possible’ way of speaking.
“Yeah, I noticed when your hard ass chest almost knocked me out. Were you just going to let me break my neck?” My patience, for the most part, is in small supply these days, but for some reason, Maddox, and all his asshole tendencies, just works for me. I know that part of it is him knowing something about me that no one else does.
“Probably. Seemed pretty lost in thought there, so I’m not even sure you would’ve heard me say anything anyway. Noticed you and Beck doing your normal bullshit, too. Which do you want to avoid talking about more?”
“Don’t be an asshole, Mad. Did you find anything out from the files I sent you?” I’m pretty sure I sound as desperate as I feel, maybe even borderline manic at this point. I know he told me he wouldn’t say anything to the others, but depending on what he’s found, that could change everything. And the last person that I need to find out that I’m in trouble is Beck.
“Yeah.”
That’s it? Are we serious right now?
“Please, don’t play games with me. This is serious, Maddox.”
“Yeah, I know it is. I know it’s serious because I’ve dug deep enough to know just how dangerous this can be for your pretty little ass if you keep being so obvious with your detective work. Hell, you might as well just show up and tell the whole office what you’re looking for.” He narrows his eyes and does that stupid manly huff and grunt thing that is supposed to put me in my place. Fat chance of that happening.
“Tell me what you found. Please.” I know, before he even opens his mouth, that I’m not going to like what he tells me.
“Adam Harris. Age thirty-six, single, agent in your company for the last eight months?”
“Yes, I know who you’re talking about. I hired him myself. He had a good resume, and all of his references checked out. He might not have finished top in his class or anything, but he had enough work history in the insurance field for me to give him a go. Hell, his last employer told me he didn’t want to let him go!” Okay, I might be close to losing my calm, because this guy was nowhere near my radar.
“That would be the one. Seems like Mr. Harris has a nasty little habit. The kind of habit that costs a lot to keep up.” The confused look on my face must have clued in the fact that I’m not exactly following him, because almost as an afterthought he added, “Drugs, Dee. He’s so far in debt with his drug dealer that I’m not really sure how he’s still breathing.”
“What?” I gasp.
“Dee, I checked his financial history, and best I can tell, he’s in the red everywhere. Mortgage is in foreclosure, truck repossessed, and that doesn’t even count the negative bank statements, and at least fifty thousand in credit card debt. Looks like from all the company reports you’ve given me, he’s only done this to the one account. It wasn’t enough for them to get suspicious, until recently. My guess is that he was getting close to desperation, and that makes people like him sloppy.”
I just stare at him in disbelief. I know Adam. Hell, I’ve gone to dinner with him a few times on my trips back to North Carolina. I’ve told him about my life here. He can’t be doing this to me. “You have to be mistaken. He doesn’t look like he would be so… evil.” I try to calm my breathing, and when I’m not successful I lean against the hallway wall before sliding down to the floor.
Maddox sighs before he crouches in front of me, takes my face between his hands, and forces me to look up. “Calm your shit, Dee. I told you I would look into it, and I did. Now that we both know what’s going on, it’s time to let the others in. There is no damn way it’s safe enough for you to try and fix this on your own.”
Before I can reply, an angry voice cuts through the silence, and I jump so high that my chin knocks into Maddox’s nose. I watch in horror as his legs give out, and he falls on his ass. He doesn’t even seem worried about the blood pouring from his nose; he’s more worried about pulling down the leg of his jeans where it’s ridden up mid-calf. His head snaps up when my gasp echoes around us. His expressionless eyes are now full of anger and panic.
“I’ll keep your secret for now, Dee, but don’t you dare say a word about that to the girls.” He jumps up and stalks away, roughly hitting Beck against the shoulder.
I must be in shock because I don’t even move. My mind’s spinning out of control with all the information Maddox told me, and with what I just saw when he fell. I don’t even notice when Beck stomps up into my space. Still staring into the distance, when I feel his hands close around my biceps and lift me to a standing position in front of him. His body is vibrating with anger.
“What the hell was that?”
It takes me a second to put the pieces together, but when I do, my eyes widen. He thinks that me and Maddox… That Maddox and me… Oh, shit.